Man chops off wife's fingers to stop her taking a degree course

Dhaka
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A Bangladeshi migrant worker in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Rafiqul Islam, 30, chopped off the fingers of his wife Hawa Akhter Jui, 21, because he was angry she was studying for a degree at the university without his approval.

Islam had warned Jui of 'serious consequences' if she did not stop her studies.

According to Sunday Observer, Jui said when Islam was visiting Bangladesh from United Arab Emirates, "he said he wanted to have a discussion with me. Suddenly, he blindfolded me and tied my hand. He also taped my mouth saying that he would give me some surprise gifts. But instead, he cut off my fingers."

According to Daily Mail, after Islam had cut off his wife's fingers one of his relatives threw them in a dustbin to make sure doctors would be unable to attach them back to her palm.

Sunday Observer reports that Jui, in a phone conversation, said, “Doctors said my fingers could be re-attached within six hours but he refused to give them. After that time, another relative of my husband threw the fingers in a dustbin. We finally recovered them but it was too late."

Sunday Observer also reports that "preliminary investigations" by the police led them to believe that it was "a pre-planned attack." A police spokesman Al-Mamun, said: “He [the husband] admitted to cutting off his wife’s fingers. We will be pressing charges against him."

Bangladesh police chief Mohammed Saluddin, explained that Islam had confessed his crime after he was arrested in Dhaka. The police chief said he will be facing charges of "disfiguration." According Saluddin, "He (Islam) was enraged. He was jealous because while he only had a grade eight standard education, she was off to college to pursue higher studies."

Jui, who is back in her parents' home, says she is learning to write with her left hand and she is determined to return to her studies. Sunday Observer quotes Jui: “I have now started practicing writing with my left hand. I want to see how far I can go. I never imagined that my fingers would be chopped off like this because of my studies.”

Daily Mail reports that in June, an unemployed Bangladeshi man gouged out his wife's eyes because she wanted to pursue higher studies at a Canadian university. The wife was an assistant professor at the Dhaka University.

Such attacks by men on their educated wives in male-dominated Muslim Bangladesh arises from a sense of insecurity men may feel when their spouses appear to be outdoing them in secular achievement.

Sunday Observer reports that human rights groups in Bangladesh are demanding severe punishment for Islam. The human rights groups are demanding life imprisonment for Islam. The Daily Star reports that several hundred human right protesters formed a human chain in Narsingdi on Friday to protest the severing of Jui's fingers by her husband. The protest was part of a series of demonstrations locals have spontaneously organized since the incident occurred on December 4. A lawmaker in Narsingdi Nurul Islam Hiral, visited Jui's residence to express sympathy. Hundreds of people having been visiting Jui to express their sympathy and support.